Read 15 chapters ahead on Patreonhttps://patreon.com/rez540Drop some stooooneess and support me please and a good review if you can. ----------------------A slender ghost witch with waist-length hair appeared before them. Her delicate features were framed by an air of cold pride, and as she floated gracefully, her floor-length cloak swayed gently behind her.
"Long time no see, Uncle Dracula," she said softly, bowing slightly in his direction.
Dracula raised an eyebrow, a half-smile playing on his lips. "Well, well, Helena, it has been a long time. Hundreds of years, in fact. I see your pride has grown in my absence," he teased. "If I didn't have a reason to summon you today, would you have even bothered to visit?"
A flicker of embarrassment crossed Helena's face. She averted her gaze and murmured, "It's not arrogance… I just… didn't think I could face you."
The proud, distant expression she usually wore melted away, revealing the uncertain girl beneath. In Dracula's eyes, it was as if time had rewound to centuries past, back when he often found her trailing behind her mother, Rowena Ravenclaw.
His mind drifted to memories nearly a thousand years old—Helena, the brilliant yet rebellious daughter of the great Rowena Ravenclaw. Rowena, who had always valued knowledge above all else, lived with the motto "Wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure". She had been strict to the point of severity with her daughter. Under the weight of expectations she could never fulfill, Helena had made a fateful decision—she stole her mother's enchanted diadem and fled from Hogwarts, believing it would grant her the wisdom she lacked.
Sometime after the construction of Hogwarts Castle, Dracula departed from his territory in Scotland and returned to Romania to reorganize the newly emerging vampire community. With the rapid growth of their kind and increasing tensions between rival clans, his presence was needed to restore order. The event happened during this absence.
Rowena, stricken with both grief and shame, had never shared the truth of Helena's disappearance with the other founders—or with Dracula, her old friend.
Rowena's heartbreak over her daughter's disappearance soon led to a grave illness. Before passing, she entrusted Barrow, who was deeply in love with Helena, to find and bring her back for a final reunion.
And that was the biggest regret before her death.
Helena's tale had ended in tragedy. Sent by Rowena in her final days, the lovestruck and jealous Barrow had found Helena in a distant forest. When she refused to return with him—and rejected his love yet again—his rage overcame him. In a moment of blind fury, he ended her life, only to take his own in remorse.
Now, centuries later, they both haunted Hogwarts—Helena, the cold and elusive Grey Lady, and Barrow, now the formidable Bloody Baron.
Dracula sighed, pulling himself from his thoughts. "Helena, it's been nearly a millennium. There's no need to carry this guilt forever."
Helena shook her head slowly, her voice quiet but firm. "Be it guilt... or regret... that's what keeps us ghosts tethered to this world. If I ever let it go, I fear I'll simply... cease to exist."
Dracula fell silent, watching her closely.
Dumbledore, who had been observing the exchange with a twinkle of curiosity, spoke up with a chuckle. "Professor Dracula, I must say, you're far more sentimental than you pretend to be. Whether it's young Nico or Lady Grey, you seem to have a way of caring... in your own unique style."
Dracula shot him a sharp look. "Enough nonsense, Dumbledore," he muttered, eager to change the subject. "We have business to attend to." He turned back to Helena. "There's a certain ghost in need of your... guidance. She's rather unstable, and we need to ask her some important questions."
Helena nodded and floated toward the stall where Myrtle was still futilely trying to drown herself in the tiny amount of water remaining in the toilet.
"Myrtle Warren," Helena said sharply, her cold tone echoing off the tiled walls. "Enough of this ridiculous behavior. Do you realize you're tarnishing the reputation of Ravenclaw House?"
Myrtle gasped and shot upright, hastily trying to smooth her ghostly hair. "M-Ms. Grey! I... I was just..."
"Save it," Helena interrupted, folding her arms. "Come here. The headmaster and Professor Dracula have some questions for you."
Myrtle blinked, floating hesitantly toward them. Then, suddenly, her eyes widened in shock.
"U-Uncle Dracula?!" she squeaked. "You're her uncle?"
Helena arched an elegant brow. "Yes, Professor Dracula is my elder. Is that a problem?"
Myrtle's face fell, her excitement vanishing in an instant. She mumbled sadly, "That's... that's bad. If he's your uncle, then he must be really powerful… And powerful professors always last longer in this job... I'll never get to share my bathroom with him..."
Dracula's enhanced hearing easily caught her muttering, and his face betrayed a bizarre expression.
Helena, meanwhile, smirked at him. "Still as charming as ever, Uncle Dracula," she teased, her amusement unmistakable.
A flicker of exasperation crossed Dracula's face as he muttered, "This is why I avoid ghosts."
Helena smiled softly, her thoughts drifting to the past. As the man responsible for raising her standards so impossibly high that she had once considered the Bloody Baron beneath her notice, Dracula, it seemed, was still as much of a "bad influence" as ever.
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